X-shooter and ALMA spectroscopy of GRB 161023A - A study of metals and molecules in the line of sight towards a luminous GRB

Understand

Long gamma-ray bursts are produced during the dramatic deaths of massive stars with very short lifetimes, meaning that they explode close to the birth place of their progenitors.

• During a short period they become the most luminous objects observable in the Universe, being perfect beacons to study high-redshift star-forming regions.
• To use the afterglow of GRB 161023A at a redshift $z=2.710$ as a background source to study the environment of the explosion and the intervening systems along its line-of-sight.
• r the first time, we complement UV/Optical/NIR spectroscopy with millimetre spectroscopy using ALMA, which allows us to probe the molecular content of the host galaxy.